Easter message from Bishop of Coventry, the right reverend, Dr Christoper Cocksworth
We eat 80 million Easter eggs every year and we buy almost 10 billion hen eggs – real eggs.
What’s great about Easter eggs is that they remind us of real eggs. A real egg is something hopeful: new life can break out of the dark place inside.
There are dark places in our lives: when things go wrong; when we hurt; when we try to hide, when we lose someone we love. Sometimes it looks like there is no way out – the darkness has won.
At Easter, we give each other eggs as a sign of hope, a sign that new life can break out of the darkness. When we give someone an Easter egg, we’re really saying: hold out hope! The darkness has not won.
God brought new life into the world at Easter: Jesus rose to new life out of the darkest place, the tomb of death. The darkness had not won. God gives us hope: this new life is for all of us.
What if we gave Easter eggs more often?
Not chocolate ones, but real ones – what if we gave each other hope?
By helping someone not to despair; giving someone a fresh start or a second chance; forgiving when things go wrong, being a friend in someone’s loneliness.
Will we be Easter people? Will we be people who give others hope? If we will, lives can change – and we will find God changes us, too.
The Right Reverend Christopher Cocksworth
Bishop of Coventry
